Family Friendly Product Review: Soda Stream

I’ll admit I’m little obsessed enamored with kitchen gadgets. All my friends know who to come to if they need some arcane specialized piece of cookware or serving ware. (Yes, I own not only an automatic egg poacher, but also a regular egg poacher; you never know, I may someday need both.)

So when I ran across a gadget that purported to save time and money and make all the soda and sparkling water you could want right at home, I kinda had to have it.

The Soda Stream is one of the most fun kitchen gadgets I have ever had. That is, I think it would be if my kids would ever let me near it. If I even start to look at the sparkling water essences or soda flavors, my son jumps up and says, “Do you want me to make you some soda, Mom?” This is the kid that has to be pried out of bed in the morning and reminded several times to take out the trash. The Soda Stream is just that much fun for kids.

Now, my son is 12; any child under 10 is going to need some adult assistance to use the Soda Stream; although I can’t really find anything inherently dangerous about it, my motherly instincts tell me that compressed cylinders of CO2 require some adult supervision.

What I love about the Soda Stream

It’s fun. You fill a plastic bottle with water and inject CO2 into it. It makes a funny buzzing/popping sound while it does this.

You can select exactly how fizzy you’d like your soda. Three to five squirts of CO2 is the average fizziness we’re all used to. The ten squirt super-fizz is a powerful and strange thing

It turns plain water into something fun for your kids to drink. The Soda Stream has a wide variety of flavored mixes you can add to the carbonated water to make sugared or diet soda. They also have “essences” to make flavored sparkling water.

These soda mixes do not contain high fructose corn syrup and are generally lower in sugar per serving than commercially available sodas. They contain just 34 calories and 9 grams of sugar per serving vs. 100 calories and 27 grams of sugar for store-bought cola.

There are lots of interesting flavors and a line of all-natural flavors that contain no artificial colors or flavors…great if your kids have allergies to food dyes.

There are no empty bottles to return to the store. ‘Nuff said.

The cost of one 8 ounce glass of soda made with the soda stream is about twenty-five cents. A can of regular store-bought soda is about thirty cents.

So even if you’re trying to limit soda to special occasions (like I am), why not make those birthday parties fun for both your child and their guests? You can purchase the Soda Stream at these retail stores or online at SodaStreamUSA.com for between $80 and $110; add an additional $40-$50 for package deals/starter kits that include flavorings. The flavorings alone can also be purchased in local stores. You can find everything on eBay for somewhat less.